B1 · The subjunctive · about 4 minutes
Avoiding the subjunctive
Here the conjunction changes shape, not the verb.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need3
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- la chancethe luck
- heureuxhappy
- au revoirgoodbye
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
Rememberavant de and avant que: the small word does the work.
- Signal words
- avant de
- pour
- afin de
- sans
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker person ending ending for tense and person
| I want to leave. | Je veux partir. |
| I want him to leave. | Je veux qu’il parte. |
| before I go out | avant de sortir |
| before he goes out | avant qu’il sorte |
| in order to understand | pour comprendre |
| so that you understand | pour que tu comprennes |
| that I leave | que je parte |
| that you leave | que tu partes |
| that he leave | qu’il parte |
| that we leave | que nous partions |
| that you leave (plural, polite) | que vous partiez |
| that they leave | qu’ils partent |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Same subject means an infinitive, not a que clause.
Je suis content de te voir.I am glad to see you.
avant que becomes avant de with the same subject.
Ferme la fenêtre avant de partir.Close the window before you leave.
pour que becomes pour with the same subject.
Je travaille pour payer mes études.I work to pay for my studies.
With different subjects the clause stays.
Je travaille pour qu’ils aient une chance.I work so that they have a chance.
Example sentences
Je suis heureux de vous revoir.I am delighted to see you again.
Appelle-moi avant de venir.Call me before you come.
Il est parti sans rien dire.He left without saying anything.
1 more example sentences
Nous voulons réserver ce soir.We want to book this evening.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Because English says «I want to leave» rather than «I want that I leave», the rule feels familiar — but French applies it strictly. Je veux que je parte is not a heavy sentence; it is a wrong one. And when you do switch to the infinitive, remember to switch the conjunction with it: avant de partir, never avant partir, because English's bare «before leaving» leaves nothing behind to remind you.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
If both halves have the same subject, the clause disappears and an infinitive is left: Je veux partir, not que je parte. English does exactly this — «I want to leave», never «I want that I leave» — so the rule itself needs no learning.
The conjunctions change with it, and this is where English and French part company. pour que becomes pour, avant que becomes avant de, afin que becomes afin de, each followed by an infinitive. English keeps the conjunction and changes the verb instead: «before he leaves» and «before leaving» both start with «before», and the work is done by the -ing form.
French has no -ing form to reach for, so the small word has to carry the difference. avant de partir against avant qu'il parte: one has de, the other que, and which one you write is decided before you get to the verb.
Il faut que je parte can be simplified to Il me faut partir or simply Je dois partir. None of this is evasion — it is what French speakers say, because a clause with the same subject on both sides is wrong after vouloir and sounds heavy at best everywhere else.
The verbs on this page, in every form: travailler · être · avoir · dire · voir · venir · partir · vouloir